Container with a pushbutton latch



United States Patent [72] Inventor Robert S. Jones Sunnyvale, California [21] Appl. No. 799,744 [22] Filed Feb. 17, 1969 [45] Patented Nov. 17, 1970 [73] Assignee By mesne assignments to Data Technology Corporation, Palo Alto, California a corporation of California.

[54] CONTAINER WITH A PUSHBUTTON LATCH 14 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl. 206/52, 220/55, 285/322, 292/254 l] Int. Cl B65d /00, 865d 85/67 Field of Search 206/52(F), 52, 1.5; 285/322; 339/2l7(S); 292/254; 220/60, (C)

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,727,759 12/1955 Elliott 285/322 2,790,609 4/1957 Hawthorne et al. 206/52 3,125,396 3/1964 Bertram 339/217(S) 3,307,688 3/1967 Widmont.... 206/52(F) 3,341,001 9/1967 Barclay et al. 206/52(F) 3,394,838 7/1968 Larkin 220/ Primary Examinerwilliam T. Dixson, Jr. Attorney-Jack M. Wiseman ABSTRACT: A container with a pushbutton latch device to ensure positive latching between separable upper and lower sections, The upper section includes an upstanding wall, which surrounds a central Opening in the upper section. The upstanding wall guides a pushbutton received therein and also forms a bevelled annular guiding surface at the lowermost position thereof with an inwardly directed locking surface thereabove. The lower section includes a hollow, upstanding column which receives a post with downwardly projecting yieldable latching arms spaced therearound. The latching arms at the distal ends thereof when in extended condition extend a distance slightly greater than the width of the opening in the upper section and are arranged along with the post to enter the opening of the upper section.

As the upper and lower sections are brought into mating relation, the latching arms are flexed by the guiding surface of the upstanding wall of the upper section to reduce the distance between the distal ends thereof, thus enabling the latching arms to advance into the opening formed in the upper section. After the arms have advanced into the opening and continue to advance beyond the guiding surface, the downwardly extending arms immediately tend to assume their normal or expanded condition to engage the locking surface, thereby locking the upper and lower sections together. To separate the container sections, the pushbutton is depressed to flex the latching arms to retract the same away from the locking surface and to urge the latching arms into the portion of the opening of the upper section surrounded by the guiding surface, whereby the upper and lower sections can be separated.

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INVENTOR. ROBERT S- JONES BY A W,

ATTORNEY 1 CONTAINER WITH A PUSIIBUTTON LATCII' SPECIFICATION The present invention relates in general to a container with a latching device for holding together separable sections thereof, and particularly to a latching device that is provided with resilient latching arms that secures the sections together and allows easy separation of the container sections by depressing the pushbutton surfaceof the latching device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Plastic canister halves are used for the holding and the storage of magnetic tape reels. Such containers have previously employed pushbutton latching devices that allows the container sections to be secured together and, yet, permits separation of the container sections. A container of this type has been disclosed in a U.S. Pat. application,. Ser. No. 774,826, filed Nov. 12, 1968, for Container With a Pushbutton Latch. The assignee of the present application is also the assignee of the pending application.

The container disclosed in the aforementioned application employs a pushbuttom latching device wherein the latching device is provided with yieldable latching arms for releasably securing the container sections.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a container with a latching device that is more durable by reducing the stresses applied to the yieldable latching arms.

In the present invention, the latching arms are disposed downwardly relative to a horizontal plane so as to reduce the beam loading thereof and tend to provide more of a column loading thereof. In this manner, the normal forces are applied more in a column-loading manner rather than a beam-loading manner. In this way, the fracturing stresses on the yieldable arms are reduced.

To further reduce the tendency of fracturing the yieldable latching arms, the post from which the yieldable latching arms extend is received by a hollow column with axially disposed, radially spaced grooves aligned respectively with the yieldable latching arms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper section of the container.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lower section of the container.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the pushbutton assembly for the upper section.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the latching device for the lower section of the container.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 1 to illustrate the latching and unlatching positions of the latching device within the separable sections of the container.

FIG. 7 is an exploded fragmentary view of the container shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THEPREFERRED EMBODIMENT Illustrated in FIG. 1 is the container 10 of the present invention, which is suitable for holding computer tape and the like. The container 10 is made of suitable material, such as plastic. It comprises an upper section 11, a pushbutton assembly 12, a lower section 13 and a latching device 14.

The upper section 11 (FIG. 2) includes an upper disc or cylindrical wall 20. Depending from the disc is a cylindrical wall or annular ring 21. The diameter of the ring 21 is slightly less than the diameter of the disc to define a rim or annular flange 22. In addition thereto, the upper section is formed with a well 23, which is defined by a depending cylindrical wall 24 and a disc 25. The disc 25 is at the lowest end of the wall 24' Projecting upwardly from the wall 25 and surrounding the opening 26 is a cylindrical or annular wall 27'; The wall 27--in-. cludes a downwardly and outwardly tapered guide surface 27a (FIG. 6) of annular configuration and an upwardly and outwardly directed annular locking surface 27b disposed abovethe guide surface 270. A shoulder 270 is formed by the reduced diameter locking surface 27b with respect to the guide surface 27a. At the upper portion of the wall 27 is located segmented, confronting arcuate sections'27d and 27a. Spaced from the well 23 and concentric therewith is a cylindrical wall or annular ring 28 that projects upwardly from the disc 20. In the exemplary embodiment, the upper section II is integrally formed of transparent plastic.

The pushbutton assembly 12 (FIG. 4) comprises an annular flange 30, which seats within the well 23 and has its peripheral edge abutting the wall 28. Depending from the flange 30 is a cylindrical wall 31. Fixed to the wall 31 is diametrically disposed pushbutton guide 32. The pushbutton guide 32 receives the wall 27 and the confronting segmented portions 27d and 272 of the wall 27 are aligned with the longer side of the guide 32. An elongated opening 33 is formed in the pushbutton guide 32 to receive a pushbutton 35. Specifically, the guide 32 is in the nature of an elongated member with depending skirts and end and side guides for the pushbutton 35.

The pushbutton 35 has an elongated base 36 which is received by the opening 33 of the guide 32 and has a cylindrical wall 37 depending from the base 36 that is received by the cylindrical wall 27 and is movable in the axial direction therewithin. In assembling the pushbutton assembly 12, first the pushbutton 35 is placed so that the long dimensions thereof is over the segmented portions 27d and 27e of the wall 27 and the cylindrical wall 37 thereof is received by the cylindrical wall 27. Then, the flange 30 and the pushbutton guide 32 is placed above the pushbutton 35 with the pushbutton 35 received by the opening 33 of the guide 32. Thus, the pushbutton 35 moves axially relative to the well. In the raised position, the upper surface of the pushbutton 35 is coplanar with the upper surface of the guide 32. In the depressed position, the lowermost portion of the wall 37 of the pushbutton 35 is slightly above the shoulder 27c of the wall 27. The guide 32 limits the upper movement of the pushbutton 35, while the shoulder 27c limits the lower movement of the pushbutton 35. In the exemplary embodiment, the push button assembly 12 is integrally formed except for the pushbutton 25, and is made of an opaque plastic material.

The lower section 13 (FIG. 3) comprises a disc or cylindrical wall 40 with an upstanding cylindrical wall or annular ring 41. The annular wall 41 has a slightly lesser diameter than the annular wall 21 of the upper section 11 so that when the upper and lower sections are in mated relation, the walls 21 and 41 are concentric and juxtaposed. Another upstanding cylindrical wall or annular ring 42 for the lower section 13 extends from the wall 40 concentric with the wall 41, but disposed inwardly therefrom. The heighth of the wall 42 is greater than the height of the wall 41.

A third upstanding cylindrical wall or annular ring 43 extends from the wall 40 concentric with the walls 41 and 42. but spaced inwardly from the wall 42. The wall 42 has a slightly greater diameter than the wall 24 of the upper section II and when the upper and lower sections I1 and 13 are in mated relation, the walls 43 and 24 are concentric and in juxtaposition. A gasket 44 (FIG. 6) surrounds the wall 43 of the lower section 13 and a similar gasket 45 surrounds the wall 24 of the upper section 11.

An upstanding, hollow column 50 (FIG. 3) is centrally disposed on the disc 40. Formed along the upper edge of the column 50 are a plurality of grooves 50a, 50b and 50c which lar and, radial distances. The grooves 50a-50c project radially on the column 50 and are separated by tapered segments of the column 50. The lower section 13, in the exemplary embodiment, is integrally formed of transparent plastic material.

Received by the column 50 is a post 51 (FIG. 5) of the latching device 14. The post 51 is received by an axial opening 52 in the column 50 and is fixedly secured a-by heat welding. Projecting outwardly and downwardly from the post 51 are a plurality of yieldable, latching arms 55a, 55b and 55c. It is intended that the resilient arms 55a55c not extend substantially horizontal and in the exemplary embodiment the arms 5511-55 project downwardly from the post 51 at 45 angle relative to the horizontal. Thus, the yieldable latching arms 55a-55 project from the post 51 toward the lower section 13 at an acute angle of 45 from the post 51. The flexible arms 55a--55 are spaced equal angular distances around the post 51 and are aligned with the grooves 50a-50c, respectively, of the column 50.

When the upper section 11 and the lower section 13 are in mated relation, the column 50 of the lower section 13 is received by the wall 27 of the upper section 1 1.

Normally, the distal ends of the latching arms 55a55c extend outwardly a distance greater than the expanse of the opening in the upper section 11. When the upper and lower sections are in mated relation, the distal ends of the latching arms 55a-55c are disposed above the shoulder 27c of the wall 27 and in locking engagement with the locking surface 27b of the wall 27. The lower end of the pushbutton wall 37 rests on the latching arms 55a-55c and the post 51 extends upwardly into the cylindrical wall 37.

in FIG. 6, two positions of the latch device 12 are shown in relation to the locking and guide surfaces 27b and 27a. Note that the latching arms 55a55c bend inwardly in an arc. With the arms 55a55c flexing inwardly they can advance through the central opening 26. Once past the shoulder 270, the arms 55a-55 expand toward their original condition and thereby the distal ends of the latching arms 55a-55c engage the locking surface 27b in locking engagement.

To couple the upper and lower sections, it is only necessary to have the upper and lower sections 11 and 13 brought into mating relation. As the upper and lower sections are brought into mating relation, the post 51 of the latching device 14 passes through the opening 26 in the upper section 11 and enters into the opening defined by the cylindrical wall 27 and the opening defined by pushbutton wall 37. Thereupon, the flexible arms 550-550 advance into the opening 26. As the latching arms 55a55c advance further into the opening 26 they engage the guide surface 27a of the wall 37, which causes the arms 55a55c to flex inwardly in an arc. As the latching arms 55a-55c advance further into the opening defined by the wall 27, they advance beyond the shoulders 27c with the result the yieldable arms 55a-55c expand outwardly in an are under the urgency of the resilient characteristic thereof to engage the locking surface 27b. Thus, the distal ends of the latching arms 5511-550 in their tendency to return to normal condition, engage in locking relation the locking surface 27b of the wall 27. in this manner, the upper and lower sections 11 and 13 of the tape container are secured together. The inner surfaces of the confronting arcuate sections 27a and 27e at the lower portions thereof are restraining surfaces for the arms 55a-55c when the sections 11 and 13 are in mated relation to restrain the arms 55a-55c from over expanse.

To unlatch the separable sections Hand 13 of the container 10, it is only necessary to apply a force against the exposed surface of the pushbutton 35. By depressing the pushbutton 35, the free ends of the pushbutton wall 37 engages the latching arms 550-550, thereby reducing the expanse or extent of the distal ends thereof. Thus, the pushbutton wall 37 flexes the arms 55a-55c through an arc inwardly to remove the distal ends thereof from engagement with the locking surface 271: and to urge the latching arms 55a'55c into the portion of the opening 26 surrounded by the guide surface 27a, whereby the upper and lower sections can be separated.

lclaim:

l. A container comprising separable sections:

one of said sections being formed with an opening therein;

said one section being formed with a wall surrounding said opening;

said wall being formed with a locking surface and a guiding surface;

a latching device on said other section;

said latching device being formed with yieldable latching means, said yieldable latching means being arranged to extend outwardly and downwardly toward said other section when said separable section are disposed in latching relation, said yieldable latching means being normally of an expanse greater than the opening surrounded by said locking and guiding surfaces;

said guiding surface being arranged to engage said yieldable means as said yieldable means enters said opening, whereby said yieldable means flexes to enter said opening and tends to extend to its normal expanse after entering said opening; and

said locking surface being arranged to engage said yieldable means after said yieldable means expands toward its normal expansive condition to detachably secure said separable sections to one another through a compressive locking action created by the force components of said locking surface and said yieldable means.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein said latching device comprises a post and said yieldable latching means comprises a plurality of yieldable arms projecting from said post outwardly and downwardly and wherein said locking surface is disposed upwardly and outwardly.

3. A container as claimed in claim 2 wherein said yieldable arms project downwardly from said post toward said other section at an acute angle and wherein said locking surface is disposed upwardly and outwardly at an acute angle.

4. A container as claimed in claim 3 wherein said yieldable arms project downwardly from said post toward said other section at a 45 angle.

5. A container as claimed in claim 2 wherein said other section comprises a hollow column projecting therefrom for receiving in retaining relation to said post.

6. A container as claimed in claim 5 wherein said column is formed with a plurality of grooves, each of said grooves being aligned with a respective yieldable arm.

7. A container as claimed in claim 6 wherein said yieldable arms are spaced at equal angular distances around said post, and said grooves are spaced equal angular distances around said column.

8. A container as claimed in claim 1 and comprising a pushbutton assembly on said one section with a pushbutton movable therewithin, said pushbutton assembly being arranged in response to the movement of said pushbutton to engage said yieldable latching means for flexing said yieldable latching means to reduce the expanse thereof for releasing said separable sections.

9. A container as claimed in claim 2 and comprising a pushbutton assembly on said one section with a pushbutton mova' ble therewithin, said pushbutton being arranged in response to the movement thereof to engage said yieldable arms for flexing said yieldable arms to reduce the expanse thereof for releasing said separable sections.

10. .A container as claimed in claim 6 and comprising a pushbutton assembly on said one section with a pushbutton movable therewithin, said pushbutton being arranged in response to the movement thereof to engage said yieldable arms for flexing said yieldable arms to reduce the expanse thereof for releasing said separable sections.

11. A container as claimed in claim 2 wherein said guiding surface is disposed upwardly and inwardly.

12. A container as claimed in claim 2 in which said wall is also formed with a restraining surface, said restraining surface being arranged to restrain the expansion of said yieldable arms from over expanse when said separable sections are detachably secured to one another.

LII

comprises a plurality of yieldable arms projecting outwardly and downwardly from said post, and wherein said yieldable arms project downwardly from said post toward said other section at an acute angle, and wherein said locking surface is inclined upwardly and outwardly at an acute angle and intersects with said restraining surface. 

